Build or Buy
Comments
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dynamik Banned Posts: 12,312 ■■■■■■■■■□Am I really the only one that's sick of building? It's more of a chore than anything. I'd rather just pay someone else to do it at this point.
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tpatt100 Member Posts: 2,991 ■■■■■■■■■□I got sick of building a few years ago. It was fun back in the day but buying motherboards was such a guessing game. Now a days you can find some good tech review sites.
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Bl8ckr0uter Inactive Imported Users Posts: 5,031 ■■■■■■■■□□Well I'm leaning back towards buying again. I still want something rack mounted so I can save space( my computer room isn't that big).
I'm looking at something like this
HP DL360 G4p SERVER 64-bit 2xXEON 3.4GHz/6GB RAM/2x73GB - eBay (item 270619356539 end time Aug-15-10 09:51:09 PDT)
and getting 1-2 if I can afford it after a suggestion about vmotion from a TE member. I think if I can get them to sell me 2 at a discount, this could be a the way to go. I still have a few people I'm talking to so we will see. -
phantasm Member Posts: 995
If you're racking servers and routers/switches then you're going to want a sturdier rack. Dantrek makes a nice line of racks called Skeletek. I just sold my 12u unit to a friend since my lab grew into the 20u size. lol.
Dantrak Net *- New and Used Networking Equipment and Peripherals. Skeletek Racks and Accessories."No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man." -Heraclitus -
Bl8ckr0uter Inactive Imported Users Posts: 5,031 ■■■■■■■■□□If you're racking servers and routers/switches then you're going to want a sturdier rack. Dantrek makes a nice line of racks called Skeletek. I just sold my 12u unit to a friend since my lab grew into the 20u size. lol.
Dantrak Net *- New and Used Networking Equipment and Peripherals. Skeletek Racks and Accessories.
How about this one? Dantrak Net - New and Used Networking Equipment and Peripherals. Skeletek Racks and Accessories. -
dynamik Banned Posts: 12,312 ■■■■■■■■■□Keep in mind that you're going to want a four-poster for servers. They have shelves you can get for the two-post models, but you just have to balance the servers on them. I wasn't a fan. Check out something like these: Dantrak Net *- New and Used Networking Equipment and Peripherals. Skeletek Racks and Accessories.
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veritas_libertas Member Posts: 5,746 ■■■■■■■■■■Am I really the only one that's sick of building? It's more of a chore than anything. I'd rather just pay someone else to do it at this point.
I kind of feel that way as well. At the most, I buy from TigerDirect bundle packages and then put them together.
I guess you might call that a Lego set? -
earweed Member Posts: 5,192 ■■■■■■■■■□Well I'm leaning back towards buying again. I still want something rack mounted so I can save space( my computer room isn't that big).
I'm looking at something like this
HP DL360 G4p SERVER 64-bit 2xXEON 3.4GHz/6GB RAM/2x73GB - eBay (item 270619356539 end time Aug-15-10 09:51:09 PDT)
and getting 1-2 if I can afford it after a suggestion about vmotion from a TE member. I think if I can get them to sell me 2 at a discount, this could be a the way to go. I still have a few people I'm talking to so we will see.
With my home built machine I'm just running Server 2008 R2 and Hyper-V as I'm still studying MS. When I get done with WGU I'm not decided yet on what direction I'm going to go. I do know from job postings I need to get exchange experience (got a little recently setting up SBS in an office) and it would be advantageous to get the certs for exchange. I'm also leaning towards more virtualiztion certs (MS of course)No longer work in IT. Play around with stuff sometimes still and fix stuff for friends and relatives. -
Bl8ckr0uter Inactive Imported Users Posts: 5,031 ■■■■■■■■□□I'm starting to wonder if just getting a tower desktop and throwing ram at it might be the answer. For my budget, getting something decent is going to be difficult.
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veritas_libertas Member Posts: 5,746 ■■■■■■■■■■I'm starting to wonder if just getting a tower desktop and throwing ram at it might be the answer. For my budget, getting something decent is going to be difficult.
Another thing that you should keep in mind is the cost of running those servers. They really eat electricity! -
dynamik Banned Posts: 12,312 ■■■■■■■■■□I'm starting to wonder if just getting a tower desktop and throwing ram at it might be the answer. For my budget, getting something decent is going to be difficult.
VMware Compatibility Guide - Search the VMware Compatibility Guide
I'd review that and see what you can find used on eBay. vMotion is cool, but aside from learning how to set it up, there aren't a lot of practical uses for it in a home lab. -
Bl8ckr0uter Inactive Imported Users Posts: 5,031 ■■■■■■■■□□Hmm. I just thought about something else. I could build a whitebox rackmount.....
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Bl8ckr0uter Inactive Imported Users Posts: 5,031 ■■■■■■■■□□Well I'm looking at this case for an 1U server. This looks like an interesting prospect
Newegg.com - ASUS RS100-E6/PI2 1U Silent Compact Barebone Server Intel 3420 LGA 1156 Intel Xeon 3400 series / Core i7-800 series / Core i5-700 series
I could get a quad port nic for this thing but to keep my cost down, I might just start off with a 2 port for now. Any thoughts on ECC memory or not? I personally don't think I need it but I am not 100% sure either way. I know what it does but for a home server, it seems overkill. -
dynamik Banned Posts: 12,312 ■■■■■■■■■□Any thoughts on ECC memory or not? I personally don't think I need it but I am not 100% sure either way.
Some motherboards (usually server) require it. -
Bl8ckr0uter Inactive Imported Users Posts: 5,031 ■■■■■■■■□□Some motherboards (usually server) require it.
That's what I was thinking but this mb says ECC supported not required:
Memory Supported Memory Slots 4 x 240Pin
Max Memory Supported 16GB
Memory Type Supported DDR3 1333/1066/800
Channel Supported Dual Channel
ECC Supported Yes
You know, it is times like these I kinda wish I had a server+ book somewhere lol. -
MentholMoose Member Posts: 1,525 ■■■■■■■■□□Well I'm leaning back towards buying again. I still want something rack mounted so I can save space( my computer room isn't that big).
I'm looking at something like this
HP DL360 G4p SERVER 64-bit 2xXEON 3.4GHz/6GB RAM/2x73GB - eBay (item 270619356539 end time Aug-15-10 09:51:09 PDT)
and getting 1-2 if I can afford it after a suggestion about vmotion from a TE member. I think if I can get them to sell me 2 at a discount, this could be a the way to go. I still have a few people I'm talking to so we will see.MentholMoose
MCSA 2003, LFCS, LFCE (expired), VCP6-DCV -
Bl8ckr0uter Inactive Imported Users Posts: 5,031 ■■■■■■■■□□MentholMoose wrote: »You have to be careful about the CPU. There are some 64-bit CPUs that don't support VT. Microsoft Hyper-V requires VT to function at all, Citrix XenServer requires it for Windows guests, and VMware ESX requires it to run 64-bit guests. Starting with vCenter 4.1, it is now 64-bit only, so you will need VT if you want to run vCenter in a VM. Also VMware Data Recovery (covered on the VCP exam) is 64-bit only.
Thanks for the heads up. I know the VT is important but I guess I forgot how important it was for VMware. I remembered that 4.1 is 64 bit only but I have never heard of the Vmware Data Recovery. Good tip! -
Bl8ckr0uter Inactive Imported Users Posts: 5,031 ■■■■■■■■□□I crunched the numbers and it seems that building a 1 or 2 U server is going to be best. I of course will start off with one and go from there. It will be blogged of course.
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Silentsoul Member Posts: 260I crunched the numbers and it seems that building a 1 or 2 U server is going to be best. I of course will start off with one and go from there. It will be blogged of course.
Are you still looking at sticking to your $500 budget? Seems building a 1/2 U would cost more than that.
What are you looking at using for your base components? -
Bl8ckr0uter Inactive Imported Users Posts: 5,031 ■■■■■■■■□□Silentsoul wrote: »Are you still looking at sticking to your $500 budget? Seems building a 1/2 U would cost more than that.
What are you looking at using for your base components?
I've increased my budget a little bit. -
Bl8ckr0uter Inactive Imported Users Posts: 5,031 ■■■■■■■■□□I am moving forward with the build and I have decided to purchase this case
Newegg.com - iStarUSA D-407PL Black Steel 4U Rackmount Compact Stylish Server Case 7 External 5.25" Drive Bays -
ssampier Member Posts: 224knwminus, cool project.
I was going this route myself, but my home PC is pretty nice (dual core Intel). I just upgraded my RAM and everything is mostly great; still doesn't run 64 bit guests yet, though.Am I really the only one that's sick of building? It's more of a chore than anything. I'd rather just pay someone else to do it at this point.
I find the most fun in physically building the PC and using it.
Spec it out and the research is not as fun I don't think--prices and parts are a moving target, like trying to shoot at a cars tires.Future Plans:
JNCIA Firewall
CCNA:Security
CCNP
More security exams and then the world.